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Bethesda:
The old slate town of Bethesda lies at the foot of the Nant Ffrancon Pass and among the towering peaks of Snowdonia can be seen man-made wonders such as the Penrhyn Quarry (the largest opencast slate quarry in the world). From here the slate was transported a short distance to Port Penrhyn in Bangor.

But the village is best known as a starting point to discover the delights of walking or climbing Snowdonia. The Nant Ffrancon Pass climbs up into a desolate wilderness along a route called "the most dreadful horse path in Wales" before Thomas Telford carved out the A5 through the valley. The pass is sandwiched between two of the region's most spectacular mountain ranges. The uplands to the east of the road are filled with the Carneddau, the collective name for Wales' second highest mountains. The raw, elemental and often unforgiving side to Snowdonia is tangible here as Carnedd Dafydd at 342 ft (1044m) and Carnedd Llywelyn at 3485ft (1066m) both named after medieval royal brothers.

On the opposite side of the road are the Glyderau, a ramshackle range strewn with boulders and as near to a wilderness as its possible to get within a few miles walking of civilisation. The most famous of these peaks is Tryfan (the trident), and although it's a mere 3010ft (917m) this fierce, volcanic outcrop is possibly the most challenging summit in the whole of north Wales that can be scaled without resorting to ropes and climbing. This was the region in which the first successful Everest expedition trained in the early 1950's (the names of the team members are written on the ceiling of the Pen-y-Gwryd Inn, a famous mountain hostelry near Capell Curig.

Tryfan rises above the roadside and the lake of Llyn Ogwen. Llyn Idwal is accessible by path from the road, and hidden away within the eerie Cwm Idwal (this area was the first to be created a National Nature Reserve in Wales). This famous valley has become known in English as the Devil's Kitchen, because according to legend no bird ever flies there. Yet it still attracts hundreds of visitors every year.